malvernmugadzikwa
Brandon Moyo and Onward Gangata
A MOMENT of brilliance from man-of-the- moment Jerrison Selemani early in the first half was all it took for defending champions FC Platinum to add to Chicken Inn’s misery in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League tie at Luveve Stadium yesterday.
Selemani beat the Gamecocks goalkeeper, Donovan Bernard, against the run of play, striking from inside the box just 13 minutes into the game.
Despite conceding what would prove the game’s decider, it was Chicken Inn who had a good opening spell.
They could, however, not turn it into goals, with Brian Muza the chief culprit.
FC Platinum still have a mathematical chance of claiming a record fifth straight title, and Selemani’s goal could be among those priceless efforts should they go on to eventually pip Ngezi Platinum, Dynamos, Manica Diamonds and Highlanders, who are also in the hunt for the championship.
The Gamecocks are now fighting for a decent finish to a campaign that went off the rails two months ago when they went on a long barren spell.
Sheasham ease relegation woes
In Gweru, Sheasham produced a sublime second-half performance to dent Manica Diamonds’ title aspirations with a 2-0 win in a highly emotive match at Bata Stadium.
The victory also helped ease the newboys’ own relegation worries.
Hillary Bakacheza and Leonard Jani scored the goals that secured the points for Sheasham.
It was a result that derailed Manica Diamonds’ title hopes after the Marange miners appeared to have bounced back into the race midweek when they upstaged Dynamos 1-0.
The Manica Diamonds technical team, led by coach Jairos Tapera, left their technical area with five minutes remaining to protest against referee Jimmy Makwanda’s handling of the match.
However, the miners paid dearly for failing to capitalise on their first-half dominance.
Manica Diamonds assistant coach Tafadzwa Mashiri also admitted that they had fluffed their lines in the opening period.
“I would like to give credit to my players for a vintage performance, especially in the first half, where we created numerous goal-scoring opportunities,” Mashiri said.
“We should have buried the chances that came our way and wrapped up the match in that moment.”
Manica Diamonds remain second on the log standings with 50 points, seven adrift of leaders Ngezi Platinum, who could stretch it to 10 with a victory at Hwange today.
For Sheasham, the victory boosted their chances of survival as they moved out of the drop zone to 13th on the log standings with 34 points.
Their coach, Lizwe Sweswe, hailed his charges’ character but admits there is still a long way to go before their safety is guaranteed.
“It is a good result for us but there is still a long way to go,” he said.
“We talked about this with the boys; we need to do our best and get the most out of our last five games. Scoring two goals at home is a morale-booster, especially considering that we had not scored in our last games . . . we hope we can keep fighting.”
The hosts got off to a perfect start in the second half when they were awarded a penalty in the 54th minute after Liberty Masveure was hacked down in the box.
Bakacheza made no mistake from the spot, sending Manica Diamonds goalkeeper Tadious Baye the wrong way.
The Construction Boys increased their tally seven minutes later, with Jani ghosting in from the blind side to easily tap home Physiwell Madhazi’s pin-point cross.
Things got worse for the visitors after assistant coach Patrick Mandizha was sent off.
Close to the end of the match, the Manica Diamonds technical department stormed off and went back to their dressing room.
Online Reporter